What were the goals of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s First New Deal? “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself”. President Franklin D. Roosevelt uttered those words to reassure the American people when assuming the Presidency at the darkest hour of the Great Depression. Born into a wealthy New York family, FDR attended Harvard University and Columbia Law School. Inspired by his fifth cousin, Theodore Roosevelt, FDR entered politics early in his life becoming senator at the age of 28, then the governor of New York before finally becoming President in 1932. He was the 32nd President of the US. FDR worked determinedly and tirelessly to get the US out of depression and bring back hope into the lives of the American people. He attempted this by a series of programs and acts known as his ‘First New Deal’. FDR’s New Deal was an attempt to deliver relief, recovery, and reform. Relief meaning the initial action taken to halt the financial deterioration, recovery meaning provisional programs that would go towards recovering from the Great Depression, and reform meaning stable programs designed to avoid another depression. This essay will look at two things; some of the programs/acts etc. that Franklin D. Roosevelt created as part of his New Deal and whether they were successful in accomplishing his overall goal of obtaining the three R’s-Relief, Recovery and Reform in the United States. Before FDR exceeded Herbert Hoover as President of the US, the people of America were in general extremely disappointed with the crumbling economy, mass unemployment, diminishing wages, and Hoover’s policies, especially the Revenue Act of 1932 which raised US tax rates. FDR entered office with a lot of pressure which required immediate positive action. Roosevelt responded swiftly with a series of programs within his first 100 days in office. He met frequently with Congress trying to help America get out of the depression, avoid the same mistakes in the future, and grow stronger economically and as a nation. Roosevelt addressed the American public and explained his goals and what he hoped to achieve while in office. Before FDR could start recovery plans for the US he had to put a stop to the declining economy. Depositing money in a savings account carried a great deal of risk in the past. When a bank had made bad investments and was forced to close, people who didn’t withdraw their money quickly enough were unlucky and lost it. When depositors feared a bank was unstable, news spread quickly across the country and they began removing their money. This is was the main reason for the collapse of the banks during the Great Depression. In 1929 alone, 659 banks closed and by 1932 an additional 5,102 banks went out of business. Life-savings were lost over night. Bank failures continued in 1933 however FDR knew that fixing the bank failures was the number one priority after being inaugurated and began strategizing to fix the problem. FDR acted quickly by declaring a ‘Bank Holiday’. This meant that banking transactions were suspended across the nation. During this time Congress passed Roosevelt’s Emergency Banking Act which gave the President power through the Treasury Department to reopen banks that were solvent and assist those that were not. Banks were divided into four categories. Amazingly, just over half of the banks were in the first category and were sufficient to reopen. The second category were reopened but were only permitted to give out a percentage of its deposits. The third category were on the verge of collapse so were only permitted to accept deposits and not withdrawals. Five percent of banks were in the final category and were deemed unfit to continue. Before the banks were allowed to reopen, FDR addressed the nation in his first fireside chat and assured sixty million radio listeners that the crisis was over and that the banks were secure. On the first day back, deposits were greater than withdrawals. The bank crisis had finished. On...

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...It was called "relief." FranklinRoosevelt'sNewDeal provided relief to millions of Americans who had lost their homes, their jobs, and their hope. Many others felt that the radical new policies of FDR threatened the sanctity of the Constitution and free enterprise. Roosevelt'sNewDeal policies had many critics but among the most vocal were groups like the American Liberty League and powerful Socialists who argued that the NewDeal policies either went too far or not far enough in solving the problems that faced the nation.
Roosevelt's critics came from both ends of the political spectrum. The American Liberty League was an opposing group made up of conservative businessmen and corporate leaders. Believing that the free enterprise system was being attacked, they accused Roosevelt of trying to install a dictatorship in place of the federal government. In an excerpt from a 1935 article in Fortune magazine, the Roosevelt Administration is thought to be a government of men and not laws. The author compares Roosevelt to a dictator and calls his theory of federal administration "menacing and dangerous". Another political cartoon printed in the June 1936 issue of Current History, ridicules the Liberty League as being alarmist in accusing Roosevelt of bringing communism into the country.
Herbert Hoover, a former president,...

...Chris Jay Jay 1
IB History Of The Americas
Ms. Foster (B)
23 March 2007
The Great Depression
Franklin D. Roosevelt'sNewDeal and the depression relief scheme of Brazil's Getulio Vargas were in some ways similar, but also in some ways different. Vargas's and Roosevelt's measures imparted to ordinary citizens, in most cases for the first time, the premise that government cared about them and would defend their interests. They were both created to try to get their country out of the depression and satisfy the needs of the ordinary citizen. However, these two leaders had some different ideas on how to do this.
FranklinRoosevelt'sNewDeal consisted of essentially two types of reforms; social and economic. One of the most important of his economic reforms was the National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933. The purpose of this act was to get people back permanently so they would be able to buy more goods which would simulate industry and help the economy to function normally again. Included in this act was the introduction of the Public Works Administration which provided money for the building of useful public works including dams, bridges, hospitals, roads, schools, and government buildings. The most important part of building all these things was it created several million extra jobs.
Another important part of the National...

...In 1933, Franklin Delano Roosevelt referred to a ‘NewDeal’ for the American people, which instigated a series of economic countermeasures to promote relief, recovery and reform in The Unites States. His ‘NewDeal’ was moderately successful in allowing The United States to emerge from The Great Depression; and, in turn, it addressed the flaws inherent to Capitalism. In the 1920s, the form of Financial Capitalism that operated was unsustainable. The Republican government preceding Roosevelt, through taking action, proved itself to be deficient in handling the crisis of The Great Depression. Further, ‘The NewDeal’ attempted to alter the operation of Capitalism with immediate success. This process was further abetted by external, influential factors, such as the rise of globalism. Whilst, to an extent, successful in achieving the aims, it is perceivable that “The NewDeal’ had the potential to effect a far superior outcome. Nevertheless, did expedite the recovery process, and attend to the flaws in Capitalism.
In the United States in the 1920s, after successive Republican governments, Financial Capitalism had proven to be unsustainable. In his treatise, “An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations,” Adam Smith defined the role of government as ‘Laissez-Faire.’ The chief proponent of this approach, the ‘Invisible Hand’ would,...

...﻿Jackie
NewDeal FRQ
In solving the problems of the Great Depression, the NewDeal had clear successes but also major failures. Although there were clear failures in relief and reform, the success of unemployment relief and the reform of banking, labor laws, and the standard of living partially solved problems of the Great Depression.
The failures that occurred within the NewDeal were early policies that attempted to relieve unemployment and reform labor laws. One of the policies enacted by the Emergency Congress in order to relieve unemployment and foreclosures of farms was the Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA). This agency was to establish parity prices for basic commodities. The AAA planned to eliminate price-depressing surpluses of farm goods by paying farmers to reduce what they grew. These payments would come from raised taxes. However, this agency got off to a terrible start and never really recovered. Farmers, food processors, consumers, and tax-payers were all extremely unhappy. The AAA actually increased unemployment while other agencies of the NewDeal were striving to decrease it. The failed agency of the AAA was finally killed by the Supreme Court in 1936 by declaring its taxation provisions unconstitutional. In addition to the failure of the AAA, the National Recovery Administration also failed. This agency was extremely complex and strived...

...The NewDeal
During the 1930's, America witnessed a breakdown of the Democratic and free enterprise system as the United States fell into the worst depression in history. The economic depression that beset the United States and other countries was unique in its severity and its consequences. At the depth of the depression, in 1933, one American worker in every four was out of a job. The great industrial slump continued throughout the 1930's, shaking the foundations of Western capitalism. The Great Depression forced Americans to come together and find someone to help them climb out. On March 4, 1933 Franklin Roosevelt wondered if it were possible to "do anything to save America now." With millions of people tightening their belts, Roosevelt decided to gather a group of lawyers and university professors called the "brains trust" to advise him on economic policy. From this Roosevelt started what he called the "NewDeal" which had three aims: relief, recovery, and reform. The NewDeal had influences not only during Roosevelt's presidency but also the others who followed.
The early NewDeal unfolded in the spring of 1933 with a chaotic three month burst of legislation known as "the hundred days." This plan had three parts to it, recovery through planning and cooperation with business, furnishing relief for the unemployed, and to begin...

...Franklin D. Roosevelt’sNewDeal
In the words of Roosevelt, "I pledge you, I pledge myself, to a newdeal for the American people." Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected into office in one of American History’s darkest hours, the Great Depression. He jumped into a dark, dismal place full of economic depression and citizens looking for someone to rescue them. FDR proposed a “newdeal” to help the country out of its turmoil. Using, what came to be known as, the 3 Rs, relief, recovery and reform, Roosevelt would implement a legislative package that would be the blueprint for modern government.
In the first hundred days of FDR’s presidency he passed fifteen major bills. One of the most famous was the proclamation nationally issued that all banks would be temporarily closed, forming the Emergency Banking Act. Other bills passed in this “Hundred Days of Action” include the Tennessee Valley Authority Act, the Beer- Wine Revenue Act, the creation of the Civilian Conservation Corps, and the Home Owners Loan Act. These and many other like bills were the shining light at the end of tunnel for Americans as Roosevelt came into office striving to end the Depression.
Fireside chats, which were radio broadcasts, were a way for Roosevelt to connect with Americans on a more personal level while managing to give them a sense of comfort. He was able to...

...Democratizing Capital talked about the NewDeal in a positive way. It was very candid in the way it resonated its message. It stated that the NewDeal would prevent a future stock market crash and avoid a depression. The stock market crash of 1929 set into motion a series of events that would launch the United States into a fathomless recession. The Great Depression epitomized the end of an era of economic prosperity during the 1920's. Herbert Hoover was held accountable for the economic downturn. Hoover believed the root cause of the depression was international, and he therefore believed that restoring the gold standard would ultimately drag the United States out of depression by reviving international trade. Hoover initiated many new domestic works programs aimed at creating jobs, but it seemed to have no effect as the unemployment rate continued to rise. The Democrats nominated Franklin Roosevelt as their candidate for president in 1932 against the incumbent Hoover. Roosevelt was elected in a landslide victory in part due to his platform called "The NewDeal". This campaign platform was never fully explained by Roosevelt prior to his election, but it appealed to the American people as something new and different from anything Hoover was doing to ameliorate the problem. The Roosevelt administration's response to the Great Depression served to...

...A. IntroductionOn July 2, 1932, at the Democratic National Convention, the crowd listened intently to the phrase:" I pledge you, I pledge myself to a newdeal for the American people." This was the first time when the term" NewDeal" was mentioned by Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 32nd president of the United States. Since then, the NewDeal name was soon applied to the programs instituted by Roosevelt from 1933 to 1939 with the goal of relief, recovery and reform of the United States economy, in order to solve the economic problems created by the depression of the 1930's.
The NewDeal legislation was enacted mainly in the first three months of 1933 (Roosevelt's "hundred days") and dozens of alphabet agencies were created as a result. The NewDeal is generally considered to have consisted of two phases. The first phase (1933-34) attempted to provide recovery and relief from the Great Depression through programs of agricultural and business regulation, inflation, price stabilization, and public works. The second phase of the NewDeal (1935-39), while continuing with relief and recovery measures, provided for social and economic legislation to benefit the mass of working people. After 1937 the NewDeal met with...